The New Beginning (Harry and Ginny 1)
by daredyoutokissme
Summary: May 1998. After the battle, Harry must begin the rest of his life. But he won't be doing it alone.
1. The One

Harry opened his eyes slowly. He was not, nor had he ever been, a morning person. Harry felt disoriented. He had no idea where he was. It was a bed, that much he knew. As Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes, everything hit him at once. He realized he was in his dormitory at Hogwarts. The events of the previous night came back to him.

Voldemort was dead. That was good, the still sleep-ridden Harry told himself. Then why did he feel so horrible? Lupin. Fred. Their bodies, among others, cold and lifeless. Harry felt tears coming to his eyes. He hadn't wanted them to die. He hadn't wanted any of them to die except Voldemort. Not even the other Death-Eaters. Punish them, sure. Lock them up forever, yes. But death, death was final.

Unless, Harry reminded himself, you were Harry. He had survived the killing curse twice. Harry smiled slightly. Now that Voldemort was gone, Harry would be able to die. For some reason that actually made him glad. He supposed it was the fact that everything was normal.

Then it hit him again. Quite the emotional roller-coaster that morning, not just for Harry, but for the entire wizarding world. Anyway, Harry knew everything was not normal, with so many gone. It would be a day of grieving. Harry would grieve too, of course. He wished it could have ended without so much killing. How many people were murderers now? And out of those how many had escaped? Harry's desire to become an Auror hit him suddenly with strong force.

Before Harry could contemplate what to do next the dormitory door opened.

"Hello, Harry." began a familiar voice. Harry couldn't quite place it, so he looked around. Luna, of course. Harry hadn't recognized her because the ever present cheerfulness was gone from her voice. Luna set something on Harry's lap. "I brought you breakfast."

Harry put his glasses on and Luna's face swam into focus. She was smiling, but it was a bit of a sad smile. Harry was suddenly immensely grateful to her. She had done so much for him, and bringing him breakfast was the very least of it. "Luna, I… I can't…. thank you." Stuttered Harry. "You didn't have to do that. You could be with…" Harry trailed off.

Luna, the ever honest, knew where Harry was going. "My father is still in Azkaban unfortunately. They aren't releasing anyone until they can figure out what really happened."

A thought struck Harry. "They?"

"Kingsley Shacklebolt has been made temporary Minister of Magic." replied Luna. "Anyway, since I couldn't be with my family, I thought I would make myself useful. You can't be with your family either, which is very sad, so I thought we'd have something in common."

"I suppose so Luna." Harry paused. "I really would like to be with my family right now."

"If I was you," said Luna "I would think of the one person I wanted to be with most, and then I would find them, no matter what it takes. I have to go now, there is a lot of work to be done."

"Right." agreed Harry as Luna left the dormitory. He was agreeing more to her suggestion than to her last comment. Harry decided to find Ron and Hermione immediately after he ate. But while Harry scarfed down his toast there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and her image came to him. Harry smiled a little. He had his whole future ahead of him, and nothing to lose.


	2. Chances

Harry slipped on his invisibility cloak as he knew people would want to talk to him. Unfortunately Harry didn't have the Marauder's Map, it was probably in Hermione's beaded bag. So Harry wandered about the castle, but he saw so much grief and destruction that eventually he had to stop and sit down. He knew Ginny would be with her family. And her family… in the kitchen. Harry had to jump down the stone steps leading to the kitchen, as they were mostly destroyed. He made it there alright though, and was soon tickling the pear.

She was there, leaning against her father. Molly, much to the annoyance of the few house-elves who had returned, was making coffee and tea. Harry would have loved some. He felt he needed a pick-me-up, but he wasn't sure he wanted Molly and Arthur to know he was there. He had come to talk to Ginny, after all. Harry waited until Arthur wasn't looking and then he removed the invisibility cloak from his head.

Ginny nodded her head at him. She didn't look surprised to see his floating head. Nothing at all like Malfoy had looked all those years ago. Harry waited in the corridor and a moment later Ginny stepped out.

"You look…" Harry paused. He had been going to say nice but that was the most inaccurate description he'd ever heard. "tired." finished Harry. There, that was better. Ginny certainly did look tired, and Harry guessed he looked similar.

Ginny smirked. "What do you want, Mr. Invincible?"

"Mr. Invincible?" Harry threw Ginny a questioning look.

"Well, yeah." replied Ginny, still smirking. "I mean evil dude tries to kill you and it doesn't matter that he's murdered many people already, you're a baby and nope. You survive; only a scratch. Then, if that wasn't enough, you willingly go to your death and you still don't die. So I'm thinking Mr. Invincible is a pretty good nickname."

"I see. But what I wanted was… you know I'm not actually sure. How about a walk around the lake? I… I can't think in here." Ginny said nothing but she took Harry's hand and they went up the stairs.

Most of the walk was in silence as both were thinking things over. They each wanted to know where this might be going. Eventually, when they were almost halfway around, they stopped.

"So?" asked Ginny. She thought she knew what Harry wanted, but she wasn't going to make it any easier on him.

"Well." said Harry "Well. Well. Well, I missed you." Ginny gave Harry a look that basically said I'm not replying until all the cards are on the table. Harry continued. "Er… I was wondering, did we really break up? I mean we did, but did it count? Because, well, I only wanted to protect you because I thought I was going to die and… er." Harry trailed off.

"What are you asking Potter?"

"Will you be my girlfriend Ginny?" Harry managed to get this out in a fairly calm manner. He noticed and was proud of how he had grown in the three and a half years since the Yule Ball.

Ginny was happy that Harry had come back, since her feelings hadn't left. She decided to have some fun with him anyway since she had been pretty upset when he ended it. "No."

Harry was taken aback of course. "No?"

"No." confirmed Ginny. "I've never liked the term girlfriend. I'd rather be your partner. And being partners means we share everything and make decisions together."

Harry face lit up in a grin. "Honestly Ginny, you almost just crushed my dreams. Don't do that again, partner."

"Right." Ginny smiled. "Do you think we should go back?" she asked slyly.

Harry missed the gleam in her eye. "Yeah, I guess so."

Ginny gave Harry a pretend smack. "You're as bad as Ron, Harry. You can't think of anything else you'd rather do?"

Harry looked more confused than ever. Ginny leaned in so their noses were touching and placed her hands on Harry's waist. "You have one chance to figure out what I'm saying, and then we're going back to the castle." This time Harry understood.

Harry wrapped his hands in Ginny's hair and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet and gentle. They broke away at the same time.

* * *

Author's Note: I know Harry and Ginny probably seem a little too upbeat considering everything that's happened. We'll just chalk it up to the fact that Fred (and everyone) would have been happy to know that there was a little more joy and laughter in the world. Fred also would likely have teased Harry mercilessly about the relationship, and I think Ginny is channeling his spirit here.


	3. Embrace

"Just to clear something up, I am nowhere near as bad as Ron." argued Harry

Ginny laughed. "No, you're not. Although to be fair Hermione's not exactly throwing herself at him. He might get it a little faster if she wasn't so subtle. I mean, have they even kissed yet?"

"Actually yeah," replied Harry. "Last ni… this morning. And I mean full on snogging."

"Sounds like something we should try some time." Ginny winked.

The two neared the Front Entrance, or what used to be the Front Entrance. The entire front wall was now missing. Several people were moving about inside, but they took no notice of the couple.

"Hello Harry. Ginny." said a voice. Harry spun around.

"Andromeda."

"You look tired." noted Ginny. "Have you slept?" Harry had also noticed Andromeda looked tired, but so did everyone.

"Well… no. I tried but… you know. And this little one certainly didn't help." Andromeda shifted Teddy in her arms and smiled down at him.

"You should get some sleep. I'm sure Harry will watch his godson." offered Ginny.

"Right." agreed Harry, although the thought hadn't actually crossed his mind.

"Well if you're sure." Andromeda handed Teddy to Ginny, who took him easily. "I'll find you later."

Harry watched Ginny watching Teddy. She smiled at him. "Come here. You should hold him."

"Oh." said Harry "Er… alright."

Ginny could tell that Harry looked nervous. "Seriously Harry?" she smirked "You just defeated the Dark Lord, and now you're afraid of holding a baby?"

Harry huffed. He attempted to take Teddy, but he couldn't really figure out how to get a good grip.

Ginny laughed. "Come here." she said. She dragged Harry over to a pile of rubble and pushed him down. Then she laid Teddy in Harry's arms. "Hand under his head." Ginny ordered.

Harry felt a bit nervous. Sitting down was definitely better however. "I'll teach you how to shift him to your shoulder." offered Ginny.

"That's okay, I'm good."

"Really?" asked Ginny sarcastically. "In that case you'll be sitting there until Andromeda wakes up, probably in about eight hours, because I'm not taking him back until you learn to stand up."

"Fine, teach me."

"Just move your right arm up against yourself and keep your left hand on his head."

Harry attempted to do as Ginny said and found that it wasn't actually that bad. He stood up carefully and managed to hand Teddy back to Ginny. Ginny took him and cradled him in her arms.

"How are you so good at this?" asked Harry "I mean, I know you have several siblings, but they're all older than you."

"I don't know," laughed Ginny "Woman's instinct."

Harry moved over to Ginny and wrapped his arms around her. He looked over her shoulder at Teddy. "Cute isn't he?"

"Yes. The second cutest one here."

"See," said Harry "I'm not as bad as Ron. I know what you're talking about. And you are definitely the cutest one here."

"Awwww." said Ginny. They stood there like that for a long time.

Finally Harry spoke. "Er, I don't know if this is insensitive..."

"Because of Fred." guessed Ginny "And everyone. This is really hard. I mean, sometimes I want to cry, and other times I want to celebrate, and then you're here asking me to be your girlfriend. But Fred would have been happy to know that we're happy."

"Okay." said Harry. "Then how would you like to go on a date with me?"

"I don't want to go on a date with you right now." replied Ginny.

Harry assumed she was joking, but she looked serious. "Er, really?"

"Really. But I do want to spend the rest of my life with you, Harry."

Harry smiled "I can do that."


End file.
